Where Home Sales Are Moving the Fastest…and Slowest

Last updated on January 9th, 2018

Real estate is local. We hear that constantly, despite being force-fed national housing statistics all the time. But both serve a unique purpose to give us clues about the direction of the overall economy, or just our local housing market.

A new analysis from Trulia broke down time on market by low-price tier, mid-price tier, and high-price tier.

Nationally, they found that homes in the low-price cohort are moving faster than both the mid-price and high-price tiers, which is pretty standard. It’s typically harder to sell an expensive home (fewer eligible buyers).

Overall, 55% of homes listed for sale in mid-February were still on the market, generally a bad sign for the home seller who likely faces a price reduction. Still, that’s down from 56% a year ago.

In the low-price tier, only 49% of homes listed for sale two months ago were still on the market, down from 52% a year earlier.

That compares to 62% in the high-price tier, down just one percent from 63% a year ago.

Put another way, the sale of lower priced homes is accelerating while higher-priced home sales are slowing.

Despite Orange County, California making the top 10 list, home sales are actually slowing there, with 45% still on the market after at least two months, compared to 38% a year ago. The same trend is visible in Los Angeles.

Home prices aren’t cheap, which might explain some of the slowdown. They may have also overcorrected.

But the rationale is that these hot markets are able to increase asking prices steadily because demand is so strong. And that demand means fewer homes stay on the market, further allowing for price increases.

Of course, there are limits, and those have been tested in fringy spots like Phoenix and the Inland Empire of California.